Cook said he'd spend his life addressing rumors if he got into the particulars but advised that it would behoove people (perhaps journalists and investors alike?) to question the accuracy of any rumors about order cuts. Cook also said that, even assuming any data point was factual, it would be impossible to extrapolate anything meaningful about Apple's overall business. He cited variances in yield rates, suppliers, and said there was a long enough list that any single data point wouldn't make a great proxy for what's going on with iPhone or iPad demand.

Seeing as how Apple's stock took a pounding following the publication of those stories, perhaps the one on the Wall Street Journal's masthead most of all, perhaps explains Cook's eagerness to address the phenomena -- something he has not typically done in the past.

Going forward, Cook didn't single out any specific component shortages, but did say the iPad mini, iPhone 5, iPhone 4, and iMac were still constrained, but that everything with the possible exception of the iMac should reach balance in the near future.

Unfortunately those people are very smart... RENE...so they can fool investors and manipulate the AAPL stock price for the Hedge Funds... which cash for their's retirement ... the only stupds here are the ret@rds from SEC !!!

The Market for technology products is fickle, flighty, transparent, changes on a nano-turn, has mood swings that NO ONE can predict or explain, yet Tim Cook, as smart as he is, keeps trying to chop it up into manageable little, behaviorally consistent nuggets he can spin up a can of blinking lights, buttons and tightly wound antenna to keep them ‘stable’…… “BULLSHIT”!!!

The last 6 or 7 weeks of press, speculation, lies, manna, arguments, rights and wrongs, strong and weak statements, and a lot of what ever it takes to settle the noise down, has managed to crash the value of Apple down by 40 %….. THAT’ s OVER $ 200 BILLION DOLLARS because people like to scream at each other and calm heads can’t scream as loud as morons. AND, because the morons that have been screaming for the last 6 or 7 weeks like lunatics straight out of the asylum, got EXACTLY WHAT THEY THOUGHT TODAY… A CRAPPY APPLE EARNINGS REPORT - FROM A HOLIDAY PERIOD !! W T F !!!

I don’t care if it was the law of big numbers (they got reduced by $ 200 BILLION over the last few weeks), I don’t care if it’s Klowns making up bad FUD halfway around the world that was a LIE the instant it hit a keyboard. It resulted in a BAD EARNINGS REPORT FROM APPLE TODAY and that’s NOT ACCEPTABLE. ESPECIALLY IN A STONG HOLIDAY QUARTER where they should have had a performance that just left global pundits stunned and speechless …. Instead, Apple got laughed off the stage and the stock went down ANOTHER $ 60 BILLION DOLLARS !!!

At least, this will make us - mobile nation - more comprehensive of each other past/present/future situation. I cannot count the number of times I had to write similar statements regarding RIM. Don't expect me to shoot at the ambulance; I'm more likely shooting at the motorway, i.e the financial spiral that had raised appl at the level of a country (if you look at cash in-hands).
I sincerely hope some will chill ASAP because if appl get sucked in a downwards spiral, this could be very sudden, very strong and finally, very bad. And I'm not just talking about a brand or a sector. The blast could be catastrophic, again.
It's no mystery I have no traction for apple (the brand - the method - the underlying "evil" strategy), but once again, we're talking about people behind those - stupid by cupidity - financial markers, out of sight, out of limit and finaly - I hope not - out of bounds.

Record sales and profits and WallStreet is disappointed. From what other manufacturer is this expected? A simple rumor can cause a $200 billion devaluation? This is the sick twisted world of WallStreet. Anyone with a blog can spout off a guess about what might be happening and people collapse and run for the hills. Come on... Time will tell. Competition continues to grow, but that is what a free market it supposed to do. Apple continues to build a deep ecosystem which integrates several products. More great improvements to come with continued growth potential. Bank on that!

It's not a rumour that Apple's OS is dated/stale, you seriously think the deep pockets don't know/see this? Had Apple turned in numbers that would have blown away estimates , then you might have seen the deep pockets turn a blind eye to the dated OS that much longer.

Sorry my friends but prepare to man the battles stations, it's going to get ugly when Apple finally decides on a new OS, the down time alone will give Apple yet more haircuts. Has nobody learned from what RIM had to go through to get a new OS up and going, and ready for market?

I mean really, the book has been written, learn from it or turn a blind eye and deny what's happening to Apple. The elephant in the room is the old iOS, don't blame investors for such.

$13.1 billion in profits in 90 days is considered a "bad quarter"? If Samsung had this kind of financial performance, everyone would be dancing and singing their praises. The Wall Street suits are obviously greedy (look at the housing bubble and the economy). Watch their reaction to Apple's product announcements this year, followed by long lines to buy products and record sales, yet again. Name another tech company in the past ten years that has out performed Apple's yearly results? It's impossible to argue with results, even if greedy suits aren't getting rich enough fast enough for their own selfish desires.

Wall Street makes money when stocks MOVE, either up or down in price. No money is made if it sits around at the same price for years (see Microsoft). Apple hit a ceiling at $700, without any real valleys in between for profit-taking. So they had to hammer the stock down to what it is now, so that when Apple does introduce the next big thing, the stock can rise again and they will make more money. It's a game the ultra-rich play among themselves.